12 Month Windows

Over the past several months I've been making the switch away from Apple and taking up with the likes of Windows and Android instead of MacOS and iOS. Don't get me wrong, the strides Apple has made in the hardware industry are outstanding and there is certainly a use case for Apple hardware in professional settings of all kinds. I'm not here to trash Apple, but to instead point out that often when we look upon something as "The Enemy" we are doing a disservice to ourselves. For decades I was a staunch Apple supporter, always looking for the next best product from Apple, constantly upgrading my hardware when Apple would release something new, trying to keep up with the best they had to offer because I felt it was THE BEST. In many cases, objectively, Apple simply is the best. But after all that time and money spent in Apple-land I could never find that spark that spoke to me the way my PowerBook 145B did way back in 1993. I've owned PowerBooks, G3 Towers, iBook...

While Apple frequently makes a big deal about paying attention to the small details, they miss some of the bigger ones. Last night, or technically very early this morning, I friend of mine in California was setting up a new laptop and asked for help. I simply had him open the Quick Assist App. I began a session and he joined it with the code that was produced. I was then able to help him directly on his system get things set up the way he wanted and in a way that would help streamline his use of the technology. Apple has nothing like this without having to pay for special software AND be on the same network. The more time I spend delving into Windows, the more I find how useful it really is, and how walled off Apple is, even from its own users. I sold my iPad Pro and instead bought a Surface Go 2. The machine, keyboard, and Surface Pen all cost significantly less than what I'd paid for the iPad Pro and the Magic Keyboard cover and was covered by the sale of my 2 year old iPad Pro. ...

My favorite phone ever was the Motorola Moto X 2nd generation from 2014. It allowed a plethora of customizations for a truly unique appearance that could be tailored to the individual - not to mention the various customization options available for Android. The problem was more with how Motorola at the time, having just been sold away from Google, was suddenly being run. I had some issues, met with terrible customer service and eventually returned the phone for a full refund. But that phone was pure gold. At the time, I went back to the iPhone and stayed there until I tried the Pixel XL. I ended up sending that back not because of the feature set, but simply because it didn't feel fully baked yet. I would probably have been much happier with the Pixel 3 XL from this year, but by the time that was announced, I had made the decision to stop hopping around in mobile space and just stick with Apple. A big part of that decision came from two experience I had with the company...